Betrayal
by Zee-Zee Magee
Summary: Somebody betrays the team. There's a surprise, but the interesting part is what happens next. Set before Nate and Sophie are discovered. N/S P/H
1. Finding Out

**A/N:** _I have no idea! Sadly, I do not own Leverage._

They were talking while Hardison was researching so it shouldn't have come as such a shock. Parker and Sophie were chatting on about cons while Nate added in his two cents when he wasn't busy smiling at their conversation choices. Eliot was lost in his own little world of cooking but he still piped in when he felt Nate wasn't doing an efficient job of it. They were doing their usual family thing.

Eliot had left the room to obtain something for Hardison to figure out who was working with their biggest bad. Parker and Sophie were continuing their conversation while Nate was put on food duty. That was when tragedy struck. One little known fact was what set their world up in smoke. Hardison's facial recognition was starting to pick up on the informant. Parker was asking about something unrelated to the con. Nate was holding onto a glass of scotch while he stirred. Sophie answered Parker's question with no hesitation. Eliot entered the room with the thing the hacker really needed just as a certain somebody's glass of scotch hit the floor with a loud crash. All eyes turned on the mastermind with some form of concern.

Eliot rolled his eyes at the spectacle and immediately turned his attention back on the computer screen. Hardison started enhancing the image so his software could make a positive match while it was scanning through the recognizable images. Parker continued with the conversation as if nothing had happened. Nate stared at Sophie and Sophie stared back. She knew. Unlike all the others she knew why the mastermind just dropped the glass of scotch. Nate stared at her with hurt and disbelief shimmering all over his features and they both willed for the truth to be undone. Hardison made a very loud gasp of shock and discontent. Eliot stared at the computer screen in angry confusion. Parker waltzed on over to look at the source of their demise. The facial software had made its match just as the hitter and hacker figured out who the person was without it. The photograph of the warehouse was empty with the exception of two people. The first was their bastard of a mark using their successes to build power. The second was someone they had trusted, one of their own, one of the family, their grifter.

"You," Nate cried out in shock as the others immediately stared at their grifter in betrayal, "You betrayed us?"

"Again?" Parker asked quietly as the visible horror of the situation decided not to be lost on anyone.

"I'm going to kill you!" Eliot snarled as he threw something across the room to prove his point.

"Me too," Hardison said as he stood to help the hitter take care of their betrayer.

Crack! The hacker recoiled in pain as the bullet tore through his shoulder and forced him to the ground. The thief screamed in shock and immediately went to the hacker's side to help him out. The hitter hesitated for a moment not sure if he should go after the one who fired the shot or the one lying on the floor. The mastermind stood there in shock as he stared at the woman with the gun in her hands.

"I'll take that as my cue to leave," Sophie calmly stated as she made her exit with the hitter chasing after.

"Eliot," Nate cried out before the hitter made it through the door, "let her go."

The hitter stared at the mastermind's statement with anger and betrayal shimmering all over his face. The mastermind just stared back with nothing but a broken look that threatened to rival the look he wore when they had first became a team. The hacker sat up as the pain started to dull into a simple throb as he took in the sight of the two men staring in mental battle. The thief held onto the hacker's shoulder and cried out at their misfortune without even bothering to cover up her tears.

"Alright," Eliot reluctantly agreed when he finally realized what had been going on right under his nose, "I won't kill her."

"Thank you," Nate sighed with relief though the comment did not fix his broken look in the least.

"It was Sophie," Parker stammered out in hurt.

"Again," Hardison grunted out in agreement, "Why didn't we see it?"

"How long?" Eliot demanded of the boss without even hesitating.

"Three months," Nate admitted immediately, "We've been dating for three months."

"What?" Parker gasped out in shock.

"And you didn't know she was the one who betrayed us?" Hardison howled indignantly.

"You love her," Eliot concluded for the mastermind sympathetically.

"We have to stop her," Nate continued as he tried to ignore the comment and the big pile of guilt that little fact brought with it.

"three months?" Parker hissed at the mastermind in actual anger, "And you didn't tell us!"

"Parker, not now," Eliot growled out angrily.

"What do you mean not now?" Hardison shouted out at the top of his lungs in indignation, "His girlfriend betrayed us for the enemy!"

"Something's not right," Nate sighed in disgruntlement as he tried to figure out what was wrong with this picture besides the obvious.

"your girlfriend betrayed us," Hardison snarled angrily at the way the mastermind was thinking, "and she shot me! You're damn right something isn't right!"

"She wasn't aiming to kill," Eliot pointed out when he could get past his rage enough to actually figure out how bad a shape the hacker was in, "She hit you in the weakest part of tissue where the bullet can go straight on through without doing anything more than making your arm useless for the next few weeks until all of the muscle and stuff has actually healed."

"What does that mean?" Hardison demanded in a loud screech.

"It means that she wasn't going to kill you and her aim made certain that she didn't," Eliot grumbled as he puzzled over the realization in confusion.

"Where's Parker?" Nate questioned when he noticed the thief hadn't said anything in a while.

"Out the window apparently," Hardison growled when he noticed the window closest to the thief was open and no thief was in front of it.

"She must have left when she heard Hardison would be okay," Eliot huffed at the news, "Do you want me to go after her?"

"No," Hardison ordered before the mastermind could even speak, "She might go after that betrayer if you do that and we don't want that to happen! Parker's probably heading over to the grifter's apartment for evidence in hopes of understanding what the hell's going on!"

"More power to her," Eliot grunted in agreement of the assessment, "Nate's been sleeping with the grifter and didn't even know."

"Does Parker have her com in?" Nate demanded in desperation.

"I don't know," Hardison shrugged before letting out a gasp of pain, "She may not have fired to kill but damn that hurts."

"Why wouldn't she fire to kill?" Eliot questioned the mastermind accusingly, "Why would she just shoot to harm?"

"Something's not right," Nate repeated in a huff with some form of hope slipping into his eyes, "Hardison, check to see if Parker has her com."

"Hardison isn't doing nothing!" Hardison shouted out in disdain of the order, "Hardison is going to go get his arm wrapped up and plot a million different ways of killing the grifter that shot him thank you very much!"

"Find out if Parker has her com in now!" Nate shouted as he seemed to come to some form of conclusion as to why his grifter would betray them, "We might not have time!"

"Nate," Eliot calmly hissed as he tried to not let his emotions get in the way, "You're not exactly of the right state of mind right now!"

"She didn't betray us, Eliot!" Nate growled out in desperate hope, "She couldn't do that again!"

"Nate, man," Hardison grunted out in anger, "She shot me in the arm! I don't care what you think that woman is still highly violent and not on our side!"

"Nate," Eliot rolled his eyes at the hacker with warning, "You need to calm down! You're too invested in believing in her innocence to listen to reason!"

"No, you listen, Eliot!" the mastermind growled out in a thunderous snarl as he grabbed the hitter by the collar of his shirt to get his full attention, "You didn't hear her nightmares! She couldn't survive betraying us again! She feels guilty for the first time around! She actually apologized to me in her sleep before! I know she's innocent and if we don't do something soon…!"

"We're not doing anything for her!" Hardison rasped out as he violently approached the mastermind and hitter with danger in his eyes, "She shot me! How can you think she's on our side if she shot me?"

"She didn't shoot to kill!" Nate hissed at the hacker pleading for him to understand, "I know from experience that Sophie always shoots to kill! You should be dead right now! She obviously cares about us if she decided to keep you alive!"

"She shot you once, Nate," Eliot calmly retorted in hopes of keeping the hacker from killing their leader and keeping the peace, "You're still alive!"

"She liked me," Nate explained plaintively, "She's always liked me. At that point in time she was shooting just to see what would happen! If she had felt threatened she would have killed Hardison!"

"Unless she's not a bad guy," Parker chirped into the conversation.

"Parker," Hardison swirled around to look for the thief in question, "Where are you?"

"I'm at Sophie's place," Parker stated slowly, "Did you know that she has a whole bunch of information on the mark including his most recent paper activities."

"Paper?" Eliot questioned the hacker in hopes of getting an answer.

"If you want to stay off the radar," Hardison explained casually as all of the venom seemed to pour out of him immediately at the thief's calm voice, "You use papers. More dangerous to hide but harder to trace."

"He has a lot of information on all of us," Parker stated as she looked over the papers, "Including you, Hardison. None of these files have anything about Sophie though. It's like he didn't even know she existed. That's weird!"

"Parker," Nate ordered greedily, "Do me a favor and check to see if there are any pictures of the woman who's after us with Sophie lying around!"

"Okay," Parker agreed before the hacker or hitter could even argue with that theory.

"Why would Sophie have a picture of the woman who is after us?" Eliot questioned in surprise of the suggestion.

"Why would she pose with somebody she was working for?" Hardison added on with a hint of expectancy in his voice.

"She wouldn't," Nate explained breathily in cautious anticipation of the thief's news, "She only poses with marks!"

"With the only exception of us," Eliot nodded at the mastermind's statement, "She didn't aim to kill Hardison!"

"You've said that," Hardison grumbled as he continued to keep pressure on his injured arm, "and yet you have not helped me with the bullet hole in my arm at all!"

"Hey," Parker cried out excitedly, "I think I found something better than what Nate was hoping for!"

"What?" the hitter and hacker screeched in loud unison.

"What did you find, Parker?" Nate asked with excitement, dread, and greed thick in his voice.

"I found a note from Sophie and a recording," Parker stated happily, "Do you think she was planning on us figuring out she was the bad guy so soon because she didn't even bother to hide it from me?"

"Where did you find it?" Eliot asked for some reason nobody wanted to touch.

"In her fridge," Parker stated in disappointment.

"Umm," Hardison scrunched his face in confusion at the comment, "Yeah, something tells me we ruined her plan too soon."

"Bring the note and recording here," Nate ordered hesitantly, "Now!"

"You got it, boss," parker agreed with glee evident in her voice, "She didn't betray us, right? That's what this means, doesn't it?"

"Let's not get our hopes up, Parker," Nate promised grimly, "I'm too afraid of the answer right now to even hope for that."

"But we are going to rescue her, right?" Parker demanded briskly, "I mean, it's not like she was actually going to kill Hardison."

"Please, tell me that grifter did not just sign herself a death warrant," Hardison begged as all thoughts of his bullet wound seemed to be forgotten in that single moment.

"We're waiting until Parker comes back with the letter and tape before we jump to conclusions, Hardison," Eliot barked at the hacker in his usual gruff voice, "Now, come on and let's get that arm taken care of before you bleed all over this place!"


	2. Surprise!

When Parker came back, she gently placed the note and its attached recording on the table. She sat down in the chair and watched it carefully. The mastermind noticed what the thief had done and stared at it from his spot at the head of the table as well. Eliot and Hardison both came in discussing the possibilities that their grifter was still on their side until they noticed the contents in the middle of the table. They sat down expectantly and decided to stare at it. Not a single hand shot out to open the letter and read its contents to the rest of the group. Nobody wanted to find out the horrible truth that their grifter had betrayed them, but they really wanted to believe she didn't. There were a series of glances and comments in hopes of getting somebody to budge in opening up the note of great importance. Finally, the mastermind's shaking hand reached out for the letter and started opening very tentatively. The others watched in fear of what could be in that letter. The mastermind took a huge gulp, unfolded the letter unnecessarily careful, and read aloud:

**Dear Nate,**

**I know you're going to read this to the team anyway but I felt that you needed this to be addressed to you. I know what you're thinking and it is true. I did betray the team. I lied to all of you. I betrayed you and you all have every right to hate me for it, especially you, Nate! I'm sorry but I had to. I know you don't want to believe it and I know Eliot wants to kill me right now but don't worry. Everything's going to be fine, I promise. I won't let anything happen to any of you. Hardison, I'm sorry I hurt you so much but I know you're going to become an exceptional young man and an even better thief one day. Eliot, please understand that sometimes you need protection too and you were never going to be able to stop me. Parker, darling, you are the best friend I could have asked for and I really did love you like a sister. Be brave and do your best to keep the boys in line whenever possible, my crazy little thief. Nate, thank you. **

**Your Sophie Devereaux**

**P.S. The recording will give you all the information you don't already know.**

"She didn't…" Parker stuttered with tears in her eyes in shock of the letter.

"She did," Eliot confirmed with sadness clearly written all over his face.

"Damn grifter," Hardison grumbled in anger all over again, "Betrayed us for absolutely nothing!"

"Not yet," Nate announced with determination in his voice, "We can still stop her!"

"It will be too late, Nate," Eliot replied sternly as the voice of reason for the group, "She made certain of it when she wrote that letter."

"Then we're going to have to make her choke on it," Hardison growled out in despair, "Because she is not getting out of this that easily."

"Why?" Parker questioned in confusion, "Why would she do that?"

"You know why," Nate calmly replied with the obvious signs of a plan forming all over his features, "Now we're going to throw her a loophole."

"Girl is in trouble," Hardison sing-songed with an evil smile forming on his lips.

"This is going to be good," Eliot smiled viciously at the promise as he quickly picked up the recording and handed it to their expert hacker.

"Downloading now," Hardison reported with a cheer as everybody stood up from the table as one, "A few seconds and we'll be all set."

"What are we going to do, Nate?" Parker demanded with excitement starting to return to her features at what was about to happen.

"Let's go steal our grifter," Nate answered the thief quite willingly as he led the way out of his apartment to their next goal.


	3. The Betrayer's POV

They know the truth. She was protecting them. She knew this would happen too. She knew they would figure it out in time. That was all she needed, a little time to make certain they would never be caught in the crossfire. She knew she would end up dead, but they wouldn't and that was the point. Of course, nothing ever really went as planned even when she planned it and she planned it flawlessly. She just wasn't factoring in the fact that Nate was in love with her. She also forgot that Eliot could tell when somebody wanted to kill and when they wanted to injure. She didn't even think about the fact that Parker would want proof of losing a family member like that. She did account for Hardison's technological advances but she forgot that she had actually taught him how to be a better grifter, oops! She knew they would figure her out eventually. She just didn't expect them to figure it out while she was still alive and in the processes of saving them.

Nate had showed up and completely set the plan in flames right then and there, so she pointed a gun at him figuring he would obey because he does like her a little more than he should. She led him out towards a blind-spot where cameras didn't work. He knew she would shoot him if it meant keeping him alive so he decided on plan b. Sophie watched in shock and awe as the mastermind whipped around and twisted the gun right out of her wrist. She could have fought back but that idea would mean hurting him beyond what she was capable so she just made it look good. Nate fought the smile wanting to form on his lips as he noted the barely there hits the grifter was placing his way to keep the struggle sufficiently believable but she couldn't hurt him and that was all he needed. Sophie was more than prepared to be taken out for a while when she felt her back slam into the wall. She wasn't expecting the lips that followed though. Nate gently forced her to the wall to make certain she was out of the line of cameras and couldn't help but lose his nerve when he saw the complete acceptance of oblivion from his grifter. He couldn't resist telling her the truth anymore.

"You" kiss, "wonderful" kiss, "loveable," kiss, "gorgeous" kiss, kiss, "brilliant" kiss, kiss, kiss, "woman" kiss, kiss, well… there were several more kisses after that from Nate's direction because Sophie was too shocked to do anything but let them happen and try to comprehend everything else that was going on while it was happening.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Nate demanded as he kissed her several more times because he knew simply by the look in her eyes that she was protecting them by her betrayal and that it wasn't really a betrayal so he couldn't really be held responsible for his actions.

"I…" Sophie managed to successfully stammer as she realized something highly important, "You know, don't you?"

"I'm not the only one," Nate smirked at the statement as he gently placed her earbud inside her ear and kissed her a few more times just for good measure.

"What…" Sophie began to ask as voices started to flitter through her ear.

"Sophie!" Parker enthusiastically replied into the earbud system, "You didn't betray us! I knew you didn't betray us the moment I found that recording of that threat against us! You should have told us but I'm glad you're not a bad guy because I didn't want you to be the bad guy again! So… why didn't you tell me you and Nate were going out with each other for three months? That's something best friends should know!"

"You shot me!" Hardison grumped into the earbuds right on cue, "You shot me because you're an idiot and can't tell your team the truth when you're caught because that would have gotten us killed sooner! My shoulder still hurts, man!"

"Are you okay?" Eliot calmly asked though the frustration of the others' reactions was a little obvious in his deep gruff voice, "You should have told us! It's my job to protect you not the other way around! You could have been killed!"

"I…" Sophie managed to squeak out in shock before reality finally hit her like a ton of bricks and she realized that her team knew and had come back for her despite everything she did to convince them otherwise. They came back for her because they loved her and needed her and wanted her alive even if that meant they'd die in the process. She couldn't help but burst into a series of sobs after that and the mastermind's arms seemed to magically make their way around her shaking form as his shoulder became a lovely cushion for her teary face. She just couldn't take it anymore and cried.

"It's okay," Nate quietly soothed in relief as he got to hold his grifter again, "We're here to rescue you."

"I'm so sorry!" Sophie sobbed into his shoulder, "I was just trying to protect you! I… she was going to kill you! I had no choice!"

"Shh," Nate sighed as he held her close and kept a close eye out for enemies, "We know."

"We figured it out when Parker announced you were the good guy!" Hardison huffed into the comms, "I was incredulous 'til I heard the conversation."

"I'm sorry," Sophie continued to sob into the comms as she tried to get a handle on her emotions but everything just wasn't cooperating with her.

"We know," Eliot sighed into the comms, "We're sorry we thought you were bad!"

"Nate didn't think she was bad!" parker chimed in right on cue, "Nate thought you were good the entire time, Sophie!"

"Why?" Sophie demanded weakly as she started to reign in the tears for the moment at least.

"Sophie, honey," Nate laughed at the statement, "I love you! I think I would know if you were actually going to hurt us!"

"You what?" Sophie questioned with a look of shock on her face now.

"What?" Eliot growled into the comms in shock.

"Did he just…?" Hardison asked as his mind tried to wrap around this new outcome.

"Finally!" Parker huffed joyously, "It's about time you admitted it, Nate! Okay, Sophie, now it's time for you to tell him!"

"Parker!" Eliot and Hardison glared at the thief in unison.

"What?" Parker demanded hotly.

"I love you, Sophie," Nate admitted into her ear.

"I…" Sophie breathed out in a whimper, "I love you too!"

"Really?" Nate asked happily as his face began to light up like a Christmas tree.

"Yes," Sophie smiled wickedly as the truth finally made itself known and then those damn tears decided to make another appearance, "I want to go home."

"Let's go," Nate stated suddenly vigorously working his way out of there in style, "Hardison, get us some coverage."

"You got it," Hardison cheered as typing became a soothing return to normalcy.

"We get our grifter back!" Parker cheered joyously, "and we're not going to die because Hardison made it look like Nate killed her!"

"What?" Sophie asked in shock as she more than willingly followed her mastermind out of the warehouse of misery.

"It's really cool, Soph," Eliot commented as he met the two at the door, "We'll show you when we get home."

**A/N:** _Okay, cheesy and ridiculous but I like it!_


End file.
